AORR Representatives Attended the CIOR Mid-Winter Meeting
Between 19 – 21.02.2020, a delegation from the Romanian Reserve Officers Association (AORR), comprising Col. (r) Dr. Crăișor-Constantin IONIȚĂ and 2nd Lt. (v.rz.) Cătălin FLOREA, participated at the Winter Congress of the Interallied Confederation of Reserve Officers (CIOR) and the Interallied Confederation of Reserve Medical Officers (CIOMR), which took place in the new headquarters of NATO HQ in Brussels, Belgium. AORR participation was supported by the Romanian Military Representation to NATO and the EU, personally by its MILREP, Lt.Gen. Dr. Dumitru SCARLAT.
The purpose of the CIOR / CIOMR Winter Congress (Mid-Winter Meeting/MWM) was to discuss and approve the increased role of Reserve Forces in the future Allied Strategic Concept, and the objectives consisted in: discussing the amendment of the CIOR Constitution and By-Law; the possibility of receiving new members; organising a new course for young reserve officers (YROs) – named the Reserve Officers Workshop (ROW) -; the development of the digital space of CIOR; as well as the revision and modification of the regulation of the CIOR Military Competitions – MILCOMP.
The AORR representatives presented concrete proposals within the topics covered and received the proposal of the YRO Committee to analyse the possibility of organising an YROS course next year or in 2022, in Romania. A Questionnaire regarding the use of the Reserve Forces within NATO was sent to the representatives of the participating associations, to be completed by 31 March 2020.
During the Congress, the Romanian delegation had several bilateral meetings with the members of the participating associations and we would like to emphasise, first of all, the meeting with the German delegation, led by Lt. Col. (r) Dr. Marc Lemmermann, Vice-President for International Relations of the German Federal Reserve Officers Association (VdRBw), on which occasion it was proposed and discussed the possibility of concluding a Partnership Agreement between the two associations on the line of preparation of the Reserve Forces. The German officer enthusiastically received our proposal and will submit it for approval to the Executive Council of his association, so that the document can be discussed and signed during the CIOR Summer Summit.
At the same time, the announcement made by AORR representatives regarding the signing, in January 2020, of a Partnership Agreement with the National Union of Veterans of the War of Independence of the Republic of Moldova (UNVRIRM) was received with great interest by both the Council members and the Outreach Committee, who requested the contact details of the management structures of the Moldovan association to start the procedure for accessing, as an “Observer” member of CIOR. AORR has assumed the responsibility to support this process both by facilitating the CIOR’s connection with UNVRIRM and by the direct assistance granted to the Moldovan brother association, upon its request.